What Exactly Is This 114 ??

I was sifting through my recent auction lots and came across this stamp in an envelope full of used 114's. I looked at it like any other "whacked up" choo-choo of that issue and started to put it aside when I noticed that there were no perfs between the printers mark and the top of the stamp. So , did this thing start out life as part of an imperf sheet ( never heard of one ) or is it just a really strange 114 EFO or what?

The paper looks right , the cancel resembles many other smudges of the era and the grill appears correct. I've searched several databases and I can't find any reference to a 114 imperf ( unless it was on the edge of the sheet ). If anyone of the viewers has any further info. about this issue I'd appreciate your sharing. I find it hard to believe this is a "lone-ranger" and I'm well prepared for the polite "you dummy , it's just a" .... been there and done that.

And thanks to all the collectors who have so generously shared their knowledge for the many years I've been reading these forums .... the information I've gained has been invaluable !!

Could this be an essay? I am reading the header description of essays in the Scott Specialized, and the description of 114-E7. 114-E7a is "Same design and color of issued stamp", "imperf, gummed, ultramarine". But then, why would an essay be cut like this?

it was a normal but off centered stamp and someone trimmed it.

Oddly trimmed , yes , but it appears to never have been perfed. Shouldn't there be a line of perfs below the printer's tag and above the stamp image or is my ignorance showing ?

Siegel has sold margin copies of 114 before that were not perforated on the margin side.

This issue had so many problems with perforations that they wee might have been in the middle of the imprint. That's why it is so short on the bottom, the perfs were probably cutting into the design through the numeral.

revcollector ..... thank you , a major vertical offset had never occurred to me. Looking at it with new eyes and shifting the entire design upward makes sense.

This stamp is a good example of why imperf-between stamps are always priced as pairs. Although extreme, this example could very well have come from a waaaay off-center (but large) stamp and had its perfs trimmed. Including more of the margin, or including an adjacent stamp could make the claim of an imperf stamp much more believable. I think it is something along the lines of an interesting oddity as it is. Or perhaps more to the point, it is an interestingly damaged stamp. You MIGHT find someone that would pay more for it than a regular fully perfed example, but I doubt it.

I'll most likely keep it in a prominent place on my desk as a reminder to look at something new and unusual with eyes wide open. Age has given me wisdom and the new ability to forget where I put it ( the wisdom ) .